Band-saw operating mechanism



c. A. WELLS 1,938,200 I BAND SAW OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 28. 19312 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 5, 1933.

c. A. WELLS BAND SAW OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 28, 1

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 5, 1933 I NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE-1,938,200 BAND-SAW OPERATING MECHANISM Clarence A. Wells, Three Rivers,Mich. Application August 28, 1931. Serial no. 559,965

' Claims. (01. 143-19) This invention relates to improvements inband-saw operating mechanism of the type used in meat markets forcutting: bones, the main object of the present. invention being toprovide a device of this character which is better adapted to the needsof the meat trade than the saws marketed heretofore, and which is alsoadapted'for use by the wood-cutting industry.

One of the main objects of the'jinven'tion is to provide. a band-sawmechanism wherein the motor is-more directly and efficiently associatedwith the saw driving elements thereof than heretofore.

A further important object of the invention is to provide means fordistorting the band-saw during use thereof to enable the operator tovary the direction of the out made by thesaw.

A further object of the invention is to provide simple and eiiicientmeans for. so adjusting the sheaves or pulleys over which the saw istrained asto obviate the disengagement of the saw therefrom duringoperation of themechanism;

Other. objects of the invention will be pointed out or understood fromthe following description.

In the, accompanying drawings illustrating a suitable embodiment oftheinvention:

Fig. 1 is a plan, view and Fig. 2 is-aside elevation of amachineconstructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 31s a detail vertical sectional .view on an enlarged scale on theline 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3. i 1

Fig. 5 is a plan section on the line 55 of Fig.2.

Figs. 6, '7, and 8 areverticalsectional views on the lines 6-6, '7-7,and 8-8, respectively, of Fig. 1.

The machine of this invention comprises the frame 1 which consists,preferably, of a unitary casting comprising a pair of substantiallycylindrical end portions 2 and 3, having dished heads, and anintermediate connecting portion, indicated by the reference numeral 1,which is of inverted channel shape. The said end portions 2 and 3areopen at the bottom. 1

The saidend portion 2 is disposed at the end of' said frame whichiscommonly disposed adjacent to or in overhanging relation to ameatblock 4 or an equivalent thereof. In the instance illustratedthesaid frame 1 is carried by a bracket 5 secured to the meat-block 4 inthe manner hereinafter described.

Within the end portion 2 there is rigidly socketformations 28 and, attheir other ends, to

mounted a ball bearing 6 for the stud-shaft of the pulley 7 over whichthe saw-'8 is trained. The said pulley 7 is equipped with an internalspur-gear rim 9 which meshes with the spurgear 10 mounted on the shaftofthe motor 11- which is rigidly mounted on the head of said end portion 2of the frame 1.

Mounted within the endportion 3 isapair or rails 12 on which a carriage13 isslidably mounted. This carriage is equipped with a 5 threadedsleeve 14 in which the threaded shank of the set-screw 15 engages. Thesaid set-screw 15 is rotatably mounted in the circumferential wall ofsaid end portion 3 and is held against longitudinal movement relativelythereto by means of the collar 16 inan obvious manner. The ball-bearing17 for the stud-shaft 18 of the pulley 19 over which the saw 8 istrained, is equipped with trunnions 20 which are engaged in bearingsdisposed upon thecarriage '13, the axis of said trunnions 20being-perpendicular to the rails 12 and'to the axis of the set-screw 15.The said bearing 17 is thus-a rocking element which is alsoprovided'with projections 21 in which the set-screws 22 engage, thelatter being mounted so in the carriage 13, as shown in Fig. 7, foreffecting adjustment'of the bearingl'l and pulley-19 to positionnecessary to prevent the saw 8 from be- 19 and '7 1 Said stud-shaft24rests upon the upper end of .a set-screw 26 mounted in the bracket 5 andenables the. yoke 25 to be raised or lowered. 9 The arms of said yoke 25are arcuate to pass around the peripheral portion of the end portion2."of the frame 1 and are pivotally engaged at their upper ends with thetrunnions 2'7 of the frame of the motor 11 as shown in detail in 5'Figs. 3'and 4. As is clearly shown in Fig. 3,the trunnion '27 projectsfrom at sleeve or socket formation 28. The ar'mof the yoke 25 carriesthe 0 bearing 29 which receives the trunnion 2'7. The bearing 29 isequipped with an annular flange 30 between its ends which fits. thesleeve or socket formation 28 and closes the 1 mouth thereof. Clocksprings 31, under given normal tension, are secu'red'to thecircumferential walls of the the bearings 29, thelatter being confinedupon the trunnions 27 by means of nuts 32' mounted upon the threadedouter end portions of said trunnions. The frame 1 is thus renderedpivotally movable about the vertical axis of the stud-shaft 240i the 1yoke and about the horizontal axis of the trunnions 27, the tension ofthe springs 31 being such as will normally maintain the frame 1 inraised position.

A handle 33 is pivotally mounted on the end portion 3 of the frame 1 torock on an axis parallel with the travel of the free portion 34 of thesaw 8 shown in Fig. 1. To this end the said end portion 3 is equippedwith bearings 35 in which pivot pins secured to the handle 33 are.engaged.

A segmental gear 36 is rigid with the handle 33 and is rotatable on theaxis of the bearings 35 which is concentric with the gear teeth. Thelatter nest with the rack teethilf?v of. the. bar 38 which is slidableat one end in'a bearing or opening in the circumferential wall ofthe'end portion 3 (see Fig. '7) and at its other end is pivotallyengaged with the crank arm 39 at one end of a rod 40 which constitutes arock-shaft journalled' in bearings 41 in the respective end portions 2andl3= ofthe frame. 1, the. rodor rock-shaft 40 beingmainly disposedwithin the channeledportionof. theframe 1 joining saidend' portions 2andB.

"The end portion of said rod or rock-shaft 40, which projects into theend portion 2 of the frame, is also equipped with a. crank arm 42aligned with the crank arm 39 and this companion crank arm is pivotallyengaged with a rack-bar 43. Thelatter and the rack-bar 38Jare providedonitheir lower. edges with rack teeth which mesh with those of segmentalgears 33 rigid with rocking saw-guides 45 equipped with guide recessesthroughwhich the said free portion 3a of the saw 3 engages.Said'saw-guides 45 are journalled in bearings carried by adjustableplates 46 mounted upon the opposed portions of the peripheral walls oftheportions 2. and 3 of the frame 1.

This mechanism is such' that if it be desired to distort thefreeorcutting portion 34 of. the saw 8 to divert the direction of the cutfrom the normal plane'to one angularly disposed there'- to; this beingfrequently desirable in meat markets andotherwise to bring the plane ofthe saw-cut perpendicular to'the bone or other object which is angularlydisposed upon the block 4 or other support.

In practicathe saw 8 travels at very high speed in the direction of thearrow shown in Fig 1. The saw teeth thus carry the saw-dust into theportion 2 of the frame, the particles adhering to the teethbeingdislodged by centrifugal force as the teeth pass around the pulley '7.As the teethare disposed in aplanewhich' is sometimes slightly belowthat ofthe lower" edge of the peripheral. wall of the portionZ of theframe 1, the adhering particles are apt to be" projected for somedistance and thus bespatter employes or customers of the meat market;v

To avoid this possibility; the bracket 5; or equivalent support, isequipped with. parallel guide rails 45'? to engage the inner opposedparallel flanges 48 bordering a recess in the bottom wall of a pan 49having a U-shaped wall, the arcuate portion of the latter projectingabove theplane-of the lower edge offthe peripheral wall of the portion 2of the frame when the latter is horizontally disposed, which is usuallythe lowest position assumed by said frame. The arcuate portion of thewall of the pan is substantially semi-cylindrical and is of appreciablylarger diameter than the opposed arcuate portion of the peripheral wallof the saidportion 2 of. the frame soas to be spaced from the latter. IThe parallel side portions 50 of the wall of the pan being cut away attheir upper ends to afford ample pivotal movement of the frame 1 aboutthe axis of the stud-shaft of the yoke to meet the requirements ofusers.

In use, the frame 1 is usually so disposed relatively to the meat-block4 that the cutting portion 34 of the saw 8 extends substantiallydiametrically of the said block 4. The said frame is normallyvdisposedratan incline to the surface of said block with its end portion3 raised suiiiciently not to interfere with the butchers cutting ofsteaks, chops, and the like.

After the knife-cuts have been made, the piece of meat in which the sameare made is adjusted to bring the first cut substantially into the planeof cut of the portion 34 of the saw 8 which is then brought down to cutthrough the bone in the plane of the knife-cut.

Obviously, the bone, as in the case of a hindquarter. of. beef, willrarely be disposed otherwise than at some angle of inclination to thesurface of the meat-block 1; Hence, as the butcher lowers the saw, healso tilts the handle about itsv pivotal axis to distort the portion 34of the saw 8. relatively to the balance of said saw to bring-the sameinto the plane of the knife-cut or into theplane substantiallyperpendicular to theaxisof the bone tobe'cut.

This'distortion of the saw Sis believed to be novel in the art and ishighly advantageous to the user as practice has demonstrated that suchdistortion may extend through an angle of approximately ninety degreeswithout injury to the saw.

When the machine is intended for use by carpenters, cabinet'makers, andother artisans, the frame 1 may be pivotally mounted to suit their needswith respect, for example, to effecting a long saw-cut in a horizontalplane, suitable mountings being easily within the skill of personsengaged in machine manufacture without specialillustration ordescription herein.

The lower end portion of the casing of the motor 11 is rigid with thebearing for the motor shaft shown in Fig. 5. This bearing is rigid witha frame 51 which is secured by bolts 52 to the end portion 4 of theframe of the carriage.

The said frame 51 is rigid with the casing 53 of the ball bearing forthe shaft of the disk or pulley which is geared to the motor shaft andover which the saw 8 is trained.

The said frame 51 may be adjusted to extend slightly angularly to theplane common to all of theteeth of the saw 8 for the same reasons as arerecited with reference to the idle pulley over which thesaw 8 istrained.

I claim as my invention:

1. A band-saw driving mechanism including a frame equipped with pulleysover which the bandi saw is trained, a support for said frame, a motorcasing rigid with said frame and equipped with trunnions, a yokepivotally mounted on said'support and with the said trunnions to causesaid frame to be pivotally movable relatively to said I;

yoke on an axis extending laterally of that on which said yoke swingsrelatively to said support, and springs operatively associated with saidyoke and said trunnions for counter-balancing the weight of said frame.

2. A band-saw driving mechanism including a frame equipped with pulleysover which the bandsaw is trained, a support for said frame, a motorcasing rigid with said frame, a pair of trunnions on said motor casing,a yoke pivotally mounted on said support and engaged with saidtrunnions, sockets in said casing around said trunnions,

. springs mounted in said sockets and operatively associated with saidyoke and said motor casing for counter-balancing the weight of the otherend portion of the frame, a motor in said casing,v

and gearing between said motor and one of said pulleys.

3. A band-saw driving mechanism including a frame equipped with pulleysover which the band-saw is trained, a support for said frame, a verticalbearing on said support, a yoke journalled in said bearing, meansoperatively connecting said frame with said yoke to cause said frame tobe pivotally movable relatively to said yoke on an axis extendinglaterally of that on which said yoke swings relatively to said support,pan

supporting means mounted on said support and a saw-dust receiving pandisposed below the pivoted end portion of said frame and detachablyengaged with said pan supporting means.

4. A band-saw driving mechanism including a frame equipped with pulleysover which the band-saw is trained, a support for said frame, a

vertical bearing on said support, a yoke jour nalled in said bearing,means operatively connecting said frame with said yoketo cause saidframe to be pivotally movable relatively to said yoke on an axisextending laterally of that on which said yoke swings relatively to saidsupport, a pair of horizontally disposed guide flanges rigid with thesaid support, a substantially U-shaped saw-dust receiving panequippedwith guide rails engaged with the guide flanges of the said support fordetachably securing said pan to said support,

the upper edge portion of the said pan being disposed about and spacedfrom one end of the said frame with said pan during pivotal movemerit ofsaid frame about the vertical axis of the said yoke. Y 5. A band-sawmechanism including a frame, a pair of band-saw pulleys rotatablymounted in opposite ends of the said frame, an internal gearwheel rigidwith one of said pulleys, a bearing rigid with said frame and disposedadjacent the pivotal axis of one of said pulleys, a pair of trunnionsrigid with said bearing, a motor shaft journalled in said bearing andequipped with a gear pinion meshing with said internal gear, a supportfor said frame equipped with a vertical bearing, a yoke journalled insaid bearing and having its I arms engaged with said trunnions, andcounterbalancing springs engaged with said yoke and said first-namedbearing.

6. A band-saw mechanism including a frame, a pair of band-saw pulleysrotatably mounted in anci'ng springs engaged with said yoke and saidfirst-named bearing, said springs being mounted opposite ends of thesaid frame, an internal gearsockets around said trunnions, andcounter-bal-

